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Tony La Russa postgame interview

Tony La Russa postgame interview

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Q. Would you say Jeff Weaver was
huge tonight?

TONY LA RUSSA:

Especially you think
about that first inning, guy gets on, he's got to get
Delgado and Wright out. That was one of the real
keys to the game. He pitched so well. To repeat
that after what he did in Game 1 after they had
already seen him.
The biggest key to our win was the way he
pitched.

Q. Could you talk about the trio of guys
that have made such a big contribution, Kinney
and Duncan, well, those two guys in particular,
but also what you think those guys have
contributed? And Preston Wilson, also, there's
another one, didn't start the season with you
but contributed so much.

TONY LA RUSSA: I gave Walt credit, he
made the move for Belliard, got a base hit today,
important hit, and Preston. You look at those guys
come up in the Minor Leagues, they do a good job
in the Minor Leagues to prepare these guys for the
big leagues.
Kinney, got his feet wet, he's been okay,
came back, he's been nails. Chris is so much fun
to watch get better and better and better;
right-hander, left-hander, I mean he's got no fear.
Randy Flores got a huge out for us. Adam
Wainwright, he's got so much composure in the
toughest situations, so we've gotten a tremendous
lift from those guys.

Q. I realize you have to get to four to
win the series, but knowing that the next two
games are in New York, how critical was it to
get this one, and not having to go to New York
and win both?

TONY LA RUSSA:

Well, you know, we're
playing at home. We got an edge. So we hope
the edge would give us a series edge.
I mean, what you do is you just play it. We
played it, and if we'd have lost, we'd have been
ready for two, and now we may be ready for two as
well. But that's a very tough environment to play
well, but our club responds to something like that
and I know the Mets will respond, so it should be
another game like today.

Q. How impressive was Jeff Weaver in
the sixth inning getting Wright and then the
three left-handed hitters after that?

TONY LA RUSSA:

When you replay that
game, and you see the outs that he got, and also,
the innings against a club like that, he doesn't have
an easy inning where he can just flip it up there. I
mean, the more you think about what he did, the
more credit he deserves, the more impressive he
was. I talk about the first inning because, you
know, they can pitch behind, put a crooked number
there and you're going against Glavine. He did it
the whole time he was out there and the sixth was
a great example. They really set up, by him being
able to finish the last three innings, our bullpen
gave us a better chance.

Q. What does it do for the entire club to
have the bullpen come out after a rough game
a game ago and come out and perform so well?
What does it do for the attitude of the whole
team?

Well, everybody's
realistic. Guy gets a base hit with the bases
loaded, strikes out the next time. This is a tough
game. Nobody is automatic. Nobody does it
100% of the time. We've got real good depth and
a lot of different weapons in our bullpen and once
in a while, you give the other side credit. That's
what we did a couple of nights ago, we tipped our
caps to the Mets. A lot of confidence in the guys
we have out there.

Q. How big was that out by Shawn
Green in that sixth inning?

TONY LA RUSSA:

That's an example of
why -- we trust that coaches and managers have
been watching, I think he's been a Gold Glover this
year, he's played defensively so well and in a lot of
clutch moments. That's a good example, big play
for us.

Q. You said before the game that Albert
Pujols could still hit a line drive out of the
ballpark, he made you a prophet today. How
important was that home run?

TONY LA RUSSA:

We all had visions of
getting shut out again by Mr. Glavine. He was
working us over. You know, Albert just got enough
of it, and you get something going -- I actually
think, and I know Albert and right now, Glavine is
as effective as he's ever been. He's doing more
things to get hitters out.
You know, we were sitting on zero and that
got us going and really perked us up. Give Albert
a lot of credit and then the guys who came behind
to tie it.

Courtesy of FastScripts by ASAP Sports. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.